The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has called for a “civil” approach to the current controversy over profanity after the FIA punished Max Verstappen for using one in Singapore.
In Thursday’s press conference, Max Verstappen, reflecting on the previous race in Azerbaijan, described his car as “f***ed,” which drew the ire of the FIA, which imposed an equivalent of community service on him. Max Verstappen’s reaction was to say as little as possible in subsequent official press conferences, choosing instead to speak with the media outside.
Toto Wolff recounted how he and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur were brought before the stewards for using foul language in Las Vegas but noted that perhaps more nuance was needed: “Last year, I was in front of the stewards after Las Vegas, and it was quite a funny experience! Fred and I were there at the same time. He was a bit more worried,” Toto Wolff said.
I told him, “It was the first time since school that I was called into the principal’s office, and I assure you it will be the last. That said, I believe it’s fair to say that swearing and rudeness on the radio are things that shouldn’t happen. If it’s so severe as to be disrespectful, crossing the line, there are people at home watching.” – he pointed out.
“The F-word has now entered everyday language, but it’s always the context that makes it so. We want emotions, we want raw moments, and we understand that drivers are in an extreme state. If we can tone it down a bit, that’s good for all of us, but I wouldn’t necessarily ban the F-word because I think there are worse words than that. I don’t think using the F-word in a press conference is the worst thing. But okay, if we have to adapt, we all adapt our language, including the team principals, then we will be more careful. That’s more civil.”
Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull, added that the situation could have been handled differently, believing that a solution could have been found to avoid such a backlash.
He denied asking Verstappen to moderate his language in the car, noting that there should be a difference in context between what is said in front of the media and conversations with the pit wall.
“I think Max has clearly expressed his feelings about it,” Christian Horner explained. “Of course, all these drivers are role models, but the language used in everyday life… I believe it would have been better to approach it slightly differently to avoid any embarrassment. I don’t know how much he talks now in the FIA press conference, but I assume it’s relatively little. I imagine the difference was between a press conference and the language in the car, but for a driver who is not a native English speaker… We’ve seen members of the royal family tell photographers to ‘take a f***ing photo,’ so reactions must be relative.” – the Red Bull team boss concluded.
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